Isaiah 37:25

25 I have dug wells in foreign lands[a]and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.’

Isaiah 37:25 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
English Standard Version (ESV)
25 I dug wells and drank waters, to dry up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt.
New Living Translation (NLT)
25 I have dug wells in many foreign lands and refreshed myself with their water. With the sole of my foot, I stopped up all the rivers of Egypt!’
The Message Bible (MSG)
25 I dug wells and drank my fill. I emptied the famous rivers of Egypt with one kick of my foot.
American Standard Version (ASV)
25 I have digged and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
25 I'll dig wells and drink water. I'll dry up all the streams of Egypt with the trampling of my feet."
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
25 I dug [wells] and drank water. I dried up all the streams of Egypt with the soles of my feet.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
25 I've dug wells in strange lands. I've drunk the water from them. I've walked through all of Egypt's streams. I've dried up every one of them.'

Isaiah 37:25 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 37:25

I have digged, and drunk water
In places where he came, and found no water for his army, he set his soldiers to work, to dig cisterns, as the Targum, or wells, so that they had water sufficient to drink; in ( 2 Kings 19:24 ) , it is "strange waters", which were never known before: and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the
besieged places;
or, as the Targum,

``with the soles of the feet of the people that are with me;''
the Syriac version, "with the hoofs of my horses": with which he trampled down banks of rivers, and pools, and cisterns of water; signifying the vast numbers of his soldiers, who could drink up a river, or carry it away with them, or could turn the streams of rivers that ran by the sides, or round about, cities besieged, and so hindered the carrying on of a siege, and the taking of the place; but he had ways and means very easily to drain them, and ford them; or to cut off all communication of the water from the besieged. Some render it, "I have dried up all the rivers of Egypt" F19, as Kimchi, on ( 2 Kings 19:24 ) , observes, and to be understood hyperbolically; see ( Isaiah 19:6 ) , so Ben Melech observes.
FOOTNOTES:

F19 (rwum yrway lk) "omnes rivos Aegypti", Vitringa.

Isaiah 37:25 In-Context

23 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord. And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its junipers. I have reached its remotest heights, the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign landsand drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.’
26 “Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.
27 Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up.

Cross References 2

  • 1. S Isaiah 19:6; Isaiah 44:27
  • 2. S Deuteronomy 11:10; S Isaiah 10:14; Daniel 4:30

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have "in foreign lands."
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